Haiti: Only 25% of Pregnant Women Receive Recommended Prenatal Care, According to WHO

Healthcare officials caution that the figures gathered by AyiboPost do not necessarily reflect a decrease in the country’s birth rate

The West Department’s Health Directorate of the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) has recorded a total of 40,495 childbirths, including both institutional and non-institutional births, for the year 2022. These deliveries were carried out among the 62,474 pregnant women who attended their initial prenatal visits in the department.

These figures were gathered from 130 healthcare facilities out of the 158 registered in the region. They contrast with figures from the year 2021, where a total of 47,953 institutional and non-institutional deliveries were recorded in the West region, along with 46,901 deliveries observed in 2020. For those two years, the number of pregnant women who attended their initial prenatal visits amounted to 74,417 and 76,004, respectively.

« These statistics are not comprehensive, » states Dr. Montinor Dady, technical advisor for the reproductive health program within the Western Health Department.

Furthermore, the advisor adds, « Many healthcare institutions in the region have closed their doors due to insecurity, » in a context where many specialized Haitian doctors are fleeing the country to ensure their own safety. Even before the current crisis, studies reported that 40% of trained doctors in Haiti had fled the country.

For those two years, the number of pregnant women who attended their initial prenatal visits amounted to 74,417 and 76,004, respectively.

Health facilities located in areas controlled by gangs are operating with difficulty, or outright closing their doors.

For example, the Health Center of Portail de Léogane has been closed for several years due to gang violence. Other healthcare institutions in Croix des Bouquets and Cité Soleil are struggling to function.

Only 25% of women in Haiti have completed the minimum of four prenatal visits, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2015.

This estimation has likely worsened, as healthcare services for pregnant women have become increasingly unavailable and inaccessible in the metropolitan region of Port-au-Prince. As a result, the few hospitals that are still functioning are witnessing an increase in admissions of pregnant women.

Only 25% of women in Haiti have completed the minimum of four prenatal visits, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2015.

Saint Damien Hospital, located in the commune of Tabarre, launched its maternity unit in 2010 and provides care for pregnant women with high-risk pregnancies. For the year 2021, the hospital recorded 7,337 prenatal visits and 3,527 admissions, resulting in a total of 3,113 deliveries.

In the previous year, Saint Damien Hospital recorded lower figures with 6,762 prenatal visits, 2,877 admissions, and a total of 2,621 deliveries.

According to Dr. Benoît Chabaud, coordinator of the Turgeau Emergency Project, the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Emergency Center does not handle eutocic deliveries (i.e. natural deliveries without complications) unless the patient is on the verge of giving birth upon arrival at the Center.

Health facilities located in areas controlled by gangs are operating with difficulty, or outright closing their doors.

From January to March 2023, the Médecins Sans Frontières Emergency Center received eleven cases of eutocic deliveries in Turgeau. The corresponding figures for the years 2019 to 2022 were 46, 54, 42, and 62, respectively.

There is an observed increase in cases requiring additional medical intervention, as well as complicated cases involving hypertension or bleeding in patients. For gyneco-obstetric emergencies, the Médecins Sans Frontières Emergency Center has already recorded 167 cases for the year 2023, from January to March. The corresponding statistics for the years 2019 to 2022 were 325, 362, 443, and 616, respectively.

The La Paix University Hospital has seen its admissions of pregnant women double since the beginning of the doctors’ strike at the general hospital in December 2022, according to Dr. Jean Philippe Lerbourg, the medical director of the institution, interviewed by AyiboPost.

Furthermore, for the year 2021, a total of 154,440 deliveries were reported in all departments, according to data from the Ministry of Public Health and Population. This represents a slight increase compared to the 152,179 deliveries recorded in 2017, of which 52,848 were in the West Department.

By Fenel Pélissier

English translation by Sarah Jean

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